20 JUNE 2015 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG benefits everyone — consumers and producers, whether in the developed or developing world. The second issue I want to bring forward is that social and consumer values change and vary across nations. For example, in the last half of the 19th century in Europe and the US, acclimatization societies were formed for the purpose of establishing exotic plants and animals in virgin areas within their empires and other countries. The Ornithological and Piscatorial Acclimatizing Society of California imported eastern brook trout to California. Other acclimatizing societies brought brown trout and carp into the US from Europe. The US Fish Commission, the precursor of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, moved rainbow trout, native to the Pacific Northwest, throughout the US. The reason the US struggles so much with starlings is because a pharmacist in New York believed that it was important for all birds identified in Shakespeare’s plays to be found in the US. Globally it is estimated that over 4,500 different species of plants and animals, including fish, were moved out of their native habitat and established in far different locations. Fast forward to today and our values have shifted. We now go to great effort to preserve native plants and animals. All consumers value food safety and they certainly consider cost. Some consumers now value environmental sustainability. We also must recognize that values can shift from generation to generation. For example, millennials (those born approximately between 1985 and 2000) know that public authorities are struggling to address many pressing social and economic issues, constrained by funding and the legacy of ineffective governance. The millennial generation largely wants business to help solve these problems. What a great opportunity for the aquaculture movement! As seafood farmers and others who are part of the aquaculture movement, we need to recognize those shifts when they happen. If we look at what aquaculture was 4,000 years ago, how it has developed over the centuries, and most important, what aquaculture provides today, we can begin to grasp “why aquaculture” and “why seafood.” Globally, aquaculture occurs throughout the world in developed and developing countries. There are now about 600 different kinds of aquatic animals farmed. Such variety provides consumers with tremendous choice. The farming of seafood allows a consistent supply of high-quality, low-fat protein to be available to consumers year round. The controls that seafood farmers put in place can ensure environmental stewardship and the consistency of quality and wholesomeness of seafood products. We can provide a consistent supply to distributors and to chefs and the retail market. The key message is that we can meet these needs because we can control husbandry practices, harvests and safety. As mentioned previously, the science of aquaculture has improved dramatically in the past 30 years and that march for improvement should continue. Continual advances in aquatic animal nutrition and health management, waste management and facility siting, biosecurity and aquatic animal reproduction bode well for the aquaculture movement and improving consumer perceptions and the value of seafood. Key issues such as traceability, preventing seafood fraud, ensuring safety and consistency all start on the farm. As seafood farmers, we have considerable responsibility. In less-developed countries aquaculture provides good quality protein to the low-income, food-deficit world. It improves food security. It can provide financial resource to countries in need of foreign capital to help raise people’s standard of living. In the developed world, aquaculture provides a good source of high-quality protein, low in saturated fat and rich in many micronutrients. Seafood, whether farmed or wild capture, can be a major source of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids that are helpful for preventing cardiovascular disease, diminishing the potential for certain respiratory diseases such as COPD, and diminishing the potential for dementia. Seafood also appears helpful for fetal brain development. Interestingly, evolutionary biologists believe a good part of Homo sapiens brain size and cognitive abilities can be attributed to early hominid consumption of seafood. So, 4,000 years ago, early consumers of seafood were justified in believing seafood was special and empowering. The world’s human population of 7 billion is anticipated to increase to 9 or 10 billion by mid-century. The consequence of this increase on natural resources and society will be significant. We must expand and improve overall food production quantity and quality and we must do it in an uncertain climate. It takes nearly 10 pounds of feed to produce a pound of beef, and 3.6 pounds to produce a pound of pork and 2 pounds to produce a pound of chicken. Aquatic animal feed conversion can be 1:1, clearly confirming the superiority of farm-raised aquatic animals over their terrestrial counterparts. Clearly consumption of farm raised aquatic animals should be viewed as a route to progress. Aquaculture is here to stay and will be part of the solution. Seafood in general and aquaculture in particular present the world with products of great value. I suggest that they are priceless. That value is recognized as improved personal health, dining pleasure, environmental sustainability, reduction of pressure on wild fishes and, for some, financial prosperity. Yet success will only be achieved if we are responsible and disciplined. That discipline starts on the farm and ends with the chef or retailer. So, to return to my initial question: why aquaculture and what can we do to increase seafood consumption? If we are to increase seafood consumption, we must diligently and collectively work to establish trust in the value of seafood and, in particular, trust in farm-raised seafood. Establishing trust begins on the farm but it must involve the entire value chain and it must be global. If a movement is to have an impact, it must belong to those who join it, not those who lead it. All of us — scientists, educators, government representatives, regulators, equipment suppliers, association executives, entrepreneurs, investors, chefs and distributors — must work together to continually earn consumers’ trust. In looking at the totality of what aquaculture has delivered in the past, what it delivers now, and what it will deliver in the coming years, the fundamental goal of the aquaculture movement is to change the world. Essentially we want individuals and society to fulfill their full potential. EDITOR’S NOTE: Randy McMillan is Vice-President of Research and Environmental Affairs at Clear Springs Foods, Inc., Buhl Idaho. This article is based on a plenary address at Aquaculture America in New Orleans on 20 February 2015.
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